by Scott Santens | Apr 3, 2024 | News
As a leading expert on the topic of unconditional/universal basic income (UBI), a subject area I’ve been focused on now since 2013, I’m constantly trying to correct the same misunderstandings and incessantly debunking misinformation/disinformation spread about the concept and the evidence behind it. I created a slide deck earlier this year for a webinar I was part of to help inform UBI policy discussion in the EU. To help better inform the discussion more widely, especially in the US, I’ve now recorded myself going through the deck providing extra commentary.
Read more and view the video by clicking here.
by Toru Yamamori | Mar 29, 2024 | Events, News
Open forum on feminist definitions of basic income
co-organised by FRIBIS UBI and Gender team (FRIBIS-UBIG) and by BIEN working group for Clarification of BI definition (BIEN-CBID)
7.30am Eastern Daylight Time (North America) / 12.30pm British Summer Time / 1.30pm Central European Summer Time / 8.30pm Japan Standard Time / 11.30pm New Zealand Standard Time
Facilitators: Chloe Halpenny, Annie Miller, Toru Yamamori, and Almaz Zelleke
Please register here.
Researchers, activists, and community members interested in basic income are invited to this open forum to discuss feminist definitions of basic income.
Background:
Is a penny a month basic income?
Would basic income replace all existing income transfer system?
What might happen to social services if basic income were to be introduced?
Why are some proposals to distribute money to the head of household called basic income, while many others define basic income as individual-based?
Currently there are many proposals made under the name of basic income. The current discourse of basic income has diverse origins. Some are from ivory towers, some are from grassroots social movements such as the Women’s Liberation movement. The difference on the definitions of basic incomes reflects (at least partially) these diverse origins.
It has been a while since this difference of the definitions attracts debates. However, except a few occasions, voices from feminist perspectives have been underrepresented. Here we would like to attempt redressing this situation. In this workshop we would not pursue to reach a particular consensus or direction. It is a place where diverse voices would be raised and heard. All those interested in the discussion are welcome to participate.
by Peter Knight | Mar 23, 2024 | News
Note: This pilot program’s recipients are means-tested so the program does not meet BIEN’s definition of basic income.
“Mayor Katjana Ballantyne joins more than 100 mayors from across the country as part of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a coalition of mayors who establish and advocate for local and national guaranteed income programs. Guaranteed income programs provide unrestricted cash payments directly to vulnerable residents to create greater financial stability for those most in need. Somerville’s program goes beyond that general goal; it also specifically aims to support housing stability. The city’s program will serve a group of the city’s lowest-income households who are at risk of losing their housing.”
To read the full article, click here.
by Jurgen De Wispelaere | Mar 22, 2024 | News
Hi All,
We are an international group of PhD students interested in questions surrounding basic income. And we are very happy to announce a new initiative: the UBI PhD Network. Our goal is to connect young researchers working on UBI (and closely related topics) internationally. We aim to provide a platform for people to meet, have exchanges with like-minded researchers, and discuss their work.
The network is not bound to any academic institution and is run by PhD students for PhD students. However, we are supported by BIEN and plan to become a proper BIEN affiliate once our network is fully established. There will be a meeting at the next BIEN congress in Bath at the end of August for PhD students to get more information and discuss how to move this project forward. For now, we are launching an email list so we can communicate with each other. If you wish to join, you can fill out the application through this link: https://forms.gle/hg7TrKGmuEF7WSmU8. Please note, this email list is for internal purposes only and will not be shared with other organisations.
Please share this email or the link in your networks and forward it to other people you know who are doing a PhD on UBI. Let’s bring everyone together!
If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at ubiphdnetwork@gmail.com.
Best,
The UBI PhD Network team
Elise Aerts (University of Antwerp)
Stella Gabuljah (Bangor University)
Chloe Halpenny (Queen’s University Kingston)
Fabienne Hansen (University of Freiburg)
Jasmina Jerant (University of Ljubljana)
Nick Langridge (University of Bath)
Jieun Lee (Chung-Ang University)
Jéssica Maldonado (Federal Fluminense University)
by Guest Contributor | Mar 18, 2024 | News
Editor’s note: What is discussed here does not meet the BIEN definition of basic income since it is targeted
The ANC has again promised to introduce a permanent Basic Income Grant (BIG); however, the party has not committed to any timeline.
The proposal was again put forward by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the party’s manifesto launch on 24 February.
Ramaphosa echoed his State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier in the month by again laying out that the ruling party would “progressively implement a basic income support grant by extending and improving the value and coverage of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant for the unemployed.”
To read the full article click here.
by Guest Contributor | Mar 18, 2024 | News
by Jennifer Ludden Photo by Frugal Flyer on Unsplash
Christopher Santiago recalls being skeptical the first time he heard about basic income — giving people cash with no conditions on how to spend it. It was 2020, when presidential candidate Andrew Yang pitched it for all American adults, and Santiago thought, “That doesn’t make much sense.”
But for a year now, Santiago has been getting $500 a month through one of the largest cash aid pilots in the U.S., and he’s come around.
The single dad of three lives in Alsip, Ill., and was one of a whopping 233,000 people who applied for the program in Cook County, which includes Chicago. (There was a lottery to pick the 3,250 participants.) As a public employee, his income is toward the upper end of the program cutoff, but he says it hardly feels like enough for a family of four.
To read the full article, click here.
